A Mouse Tale
by Kristen3
Summary: Set after "We Could Be Royals." When the newspaper gives a scathing review of Victoria's new children's book, Melanie uses her radio show to fight back. But what will happen when she reveals the embarrassing events which inspired the story? Rating is to be safe, as the story isn't finished yet
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This idea has been on my mind since I saw "We Could Be Royals" (one of my favorites so far this season, BTW!). Unfortunately I'm not totally sure what's going to happen next in the story, but I'm sure something will come soon. In the meantime, I'm posting what I have. Thanks for reading! :)

Melanie sighed as she sat down with her morning cup of coffee. For once, the house was quiet, because Joy and Victoria weren't up yet. It was the perfect time to read the paper. Normally, Melanie's roommates would be so busy talking to each other that Melanie could barely read a word. A quick scan of the front page of the _Plain Dealer_told her that Elka hadn't caused any recent scandals on the city council. That in itself was a minor miracle.

She wasn't particularly interested in world news, so Melanie continued to flip through the paper till she came to the Lifestyle section. Along with the comics and other "soft" news items, there was a small section of book reviews. To her surprise, there was a review of Victoria's new children's book. "It's really _our_ book," Melanie muttered. She had been an uncredited ghostwriter on the project. _Soap opera star Victoria Chase has decided to add something new to her résumé. She is not content to simply be the star of several dozen Lifetime Original Movies, or even have a hit HBO series. Now she has decided to add 'children's author' to her credits. It seems that Ms. Chase has watched Disney's _Frozen _a few too many times, and she just can't seem to 'let it go.' Her book, _The Mouse Sisters_, features a pair of rodents who are anxious to go to a ball with a nobleman (or, rather, noble mouse). The elder sister, Joy-mouse has always been the pretty, sophisticated one, while Jill-mouse was the shy, sweet one. Due to a rather unrealistic string of bad luck, Joy-mouse trades places with her plainer sister. Though Jill-mouse gets a perfect opportunity to win the nobleman's heart, she chooses sisterly loyalty over true love_. _Putting aside the ridiculous, overdone idea of talking animals, the series of events which serve to ruin poor Joy-mouse's life seems to be absurd even by cartoon standards. Perhaps Ms. Chase should stick to entertaining housewives in soaps and Lifetime tearjerkers_.

As Melanie read the scathing review, her mouth hung open. She couldn't begin to imagine what Victoria's reaction would be when she saw the article. The words were rather hurtful to Melanie as well, since she'd put in the bulk of the work in writing the story.

Before Melanie could ponder the subject any further, a glance at her watch told her she couldn't sit here all day. She needed to be at the radio station very soon for her show. But suddenly, an idea struck. She often struggled for something to talk about until listeners began to call in. Perhaps the solution for today was right here in front of her. Suddenly, she could hardly wait for her show to begin.


	2. Chapter 2

Melanie drove to the studio in record time. She barely said a word to her coworkers as she hurried to her booth. She still didn't have a clue what she'd say about the book review, she just knew she had to say something. And quickly.

When she sat down at the mic, she smiled at her producer, flashing him a thumbs-up. She watched as the "On-Air" sign lit up. She was now live, talking to the whole city. "Hello, Cleveland! I'm Melanie Moretti, here with you for another _Ask Melanie_. I'll be taking your calls and offering the best advice I can, but before I get to that, I want to talk about something. I don't know how many of you read the newspaper, but I did this morning. I noticed there was a review of a new children's book. Normally, I wouldn't pay attention to that kind of thing, but this book happens to be rather personal to me. It's a book written by my good friend, Victoria Chase." Melanie felt a bit strange calling it Victoria's book, when she knew she'd written most of it. But Victoria wasn't one to share credit, so she knew she would have to go along with it. "The review states, and I quote, 'Putting aside the ridiculous, overdone idea of talking animals, the series of events which serve to ruin poor Joy-mouse's life seems to be absurd even by cartoon standards. Perhaps Ms. Chase should stick to entertaining housewives in soaps and Lifetime tearjerkers. '" She paused, allowing her listeners to process what they'd just heard. Melanie wondered if anyone else would react as she had. Victoria did have more than a few fans, so it was possible some others were outraged as well. "Now, I spoke to Victoria quite a bit as she was writing this book. I happen to know what gave her the idea for it. It was based on something that happened to another friend of ours. You see, my friend Joy recently got a visit from her sister, Jill. Jill used to be a nun, but she decided to leave the convent. Joy and Jill were both invited to a party with the Earl of Cleveland. That's Cleveland, England. We don't have Earls here in Ohio!" Melanie laughed. "And poor Joy, she had such a bad week. First she fell down the stairs, and nearly broke her ankle. Then she accidentally got lemon juice _and_ grease in her eye. And on top of all _that_, her tooth fell out. So, no, that string of events _isn't_ unrealistic, because I saw it happen! With my own eyes!"

Still half-asleep, Joy stumbled down the stairs. She managed to pour herself a much-needed cup of coffee. As her mind began to clear, Joy realized that Melanie's show was on the air. Her friend would no doubt ask if she'd heard it. In order to at least pretend that she had, she'd have to listen at least long enough to know what today's topic was. Joy turned the radio on just in time to hear Melanie telling all of Cleveland her entire embarrassing experience. Hadn't it occurred to Melanie that this was something Joy wanted to keep private? Joy wasn't sure how she would handle this just yet, but she would find a way to let Melanie know how angry she was. She'd make sure Melanie heard her, loud and clear.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure you should've done that?" Melanie's producer asked when her show went to commercial.

"Of course! Between you and me, Victoria didn't exactly write that book on her own!"

"But what about Joy?"

Melanie winced, suddenly realizing what she's done. "Well, she might be a _little_ upset, but I'm sure she'll understand."

"I'm not so sure about that," the producer said. He pointed behind Melanie, to the window outside the booth. Behind it stood Joy, and there was no mistaking her expression.

Joy stormed into the studio. "Melanie, how could you?!"

"I'm sorry, Joy, but the newspaper said that what happened to Joy-mouse was unrealistic. I just wanted people to know it was realistic, because it happened!"

"But now all of Cleveland knows I made a fool of myself in front of British royalty. Thanks a lot, Melanie!"

"I'm sorry, Joy. I really am. I just got so angry when I saw that review, and I knew I couldn't just let them say that about my book - I mean, Victoria's book."

Joy sighed. She knew Melanie had worked hard on the book. But still, this wasn't exactly an experience Joy wanted to share with the world. "What am I supposed to do now at Stormi's? What if every man in there has heard your show?"

"I know I screwed up. I'm really sorry. But I highly doubt this is something people are gonna remember. It'll blow over, really. And besides, something good might've come out of this book. A lot of kids feel awkward for one reason or another growing up. Lord knows I did!"

Joy found it hard to maintain her anger at Melanie. Suddenly, she thought about Wilbur. Her grandson was the most important thing in her life. What if he were being teased at school? Wouldn't she be glad if there were a book that made him feel better? She sighed. "Well, you owe me big for this, you know. But I guess I can forgive you." She hugged her friend.

"Thanks, Joy." Joy smiled at her.

"Uh, Melanie?" They both turned at the sound of the producer's voice. "I hate to ruin this heartwarming moment, but we're out of commercial."

"Oh, shoot," Melanie said, grabbing her headphones. She took her seat back in front of the mic. "Well, now that I've rambled on about my life long enough, let's get some calls. So, without further ado…._Ask Melanie_!"

She waited a moment, and once again, her producer spoke up. "We've got a caller who'd like to respond to what you said about the book review."

"OK, put 'em on." Melanie grinned and turned to Joy, mouthing, "See?" She turned back to the mic. "So, what did you want to say?"

A woman's voice came on the line. "Well, I just bought that book, _Mouse Sisters_, for my two kids. I remember watching Victoria Chase on _Edge of Tomorrow_ for years. Anyway, I've got two daughters. They're only a couple of years apart, but they fight like crazy! Sometimes, I just want to run away! But I read the book to them, and I talked to them about how sisters are more important than a toy, or even a boyfriend. And they're getting along so much better now. Can you tell Victoria thank you for writing that book?"

Melanie's heart warmed. It was amazing to think that her little children's book had actually helped someone. "Yeah, I'll let Victoria know. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear it. And I just want to say something to all my listeners. Sisters are definitely important, but so are friends. Even though, sometimes they might screw up, and you might get mad, you should realize that people are only human and they make mistakes. So don't be too hard on them, especially if they say they're sorry."

Joy reached over and squeezed Melanie's hand. Melanie certainly wasn't perfect, but Joy knew her life would never be the same without her best friend.

**The End**


End file.
